livern

i want to learn violin and i'm going to get one soon but i have no idea whether i should get a classical or electric one~
which is better?
i'm actually considering the electric one because of the volume-adjusting feature which i think is pretty convinient since i don wana disturb the neighbours and all..
but i'm not sure about the sound quality of an electric violin..
is it like the classical?
does it have good sound quality even when i don plug in the cables and stuff?
i heard that playing an electric violin is harder cuz it has 5 strings.. is that true?

 

Aqualung

Sorry I can't help you on this one - I don't know anything about electric violins. But thanks for posting here.

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Kameraad Pannekoek

Well if you're gonna start learning one, pick up a pretty cheap classic violin. With electric violins (and violas, cellos, etc) you get two choices: way expensive, or terrible. Electric violins make almost no sound unplugged, to the point where it's not really worth practicing because you can't hear whether you're in tune or your tone or anything, and even when plugged in it has a completely different sound. There's a reason electric orchestras never really caught on: they sound so different.

Really, if you have a killer budget an electric violin can sound awesome. Very unique and interesting, but if you aren't willing to shell out $1000+ for a decent setup, you will get much better sound quality from a classic violin. Don't worry too much about disrupting neighbours with a regular violin. They aren't really all that loud unless you really try to be. Plus, you can get a practice mute pretty cheaply at any corner music shop that will make you quiet enough that you could easily practice in another room while people are sleeping in the same house, and as long as they aren't extremely light sleepers you'd go unnoticed.

For the difficulty question, eh, not really. As long as the violin compensates by having a wider neck and bridge, a 5th string shouldn't be too big of a deal, but it can't sound too great. I'm assuming it would be a low C (like on a viola or cello), but the violin's small body probably wouldn't give it a very good presence, as small things let higher notes ring out much better than lower ones.

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RickenbackerBassPlayer

In a short answer I would say classic. The elctric violins (from my point) don't have very good quality unless it is epic-expensive. I actually know almost nothing about violins, but I think the original classic violin sounds better.

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Jody LeCompte

Violin is a very tough instrument. I'd counsel against the electric simply because you don't need a crapload of wires and buttons while your learning your positions.

That said though, classical instruments run higher than just about everything on the market. Electric violins aren't too shappy sometimes. It's still something to consider further down the road.

dreamweaver

I too am going to buy a violin and take lessons this year! I am getting a classical violin .I figure I should start out with the basics and then I can move up to the electric violin if I choose too.I don't know how much you want to spend but electric violins are expensive.At least a classic violin is not as expensive especially starting out.You just want to make sure you get good sound coming from it and good strings.
I don't know anything about the strings on a classical vs the electrical.
I think you should go with classical to start I am going to it just seems to be the wisest way to go.Hope this helps.

livern

Thanks alot guys!! your posts were extremely helpful and i decided right away after reading them =)
btw, i got my violin a month ago and i've been learning it step by step. it's really fun and i'm enjoying it immensely... tho it really sounded like i was killing cats (and probably neighbours) for the first 2 days =) got the hang of it after that hahaha~

dreamweaver

That's great I can't wait to start learning to play ! I plan on purchasing real soon.I am going to try and learn a little at home and maybe from online.I eventually will have to get lessons.I know one thing lessons are expensive.